I do like x4 as well. I have just swapped the scope on my HW80 for a 4x32 AO, gives a nice clear view, and doesn’t wobble as much with standing shots (I’m not as steady as I used to be).
There is an interesting article in this month’s AGW showing how to calculate parallax which indicates that larger apertures produce more parallax error in HFT where the setting is fixed, driving HFT shooters to narrower apertures. Of course when you can adjust the parallax then wider apertures mean better focal ratio, less depth of field, so easier to set the focus more accurately. Horses for courses and no one size fits all.
The responses have been interesting, it has been fascinating to see the range of favoured magnifications. Of course as well most of us use second focal plane scopes where the holdover/holdunder at a given range varies with the magnification which really drives the shooter to a fixed mag unless they always shoot at the zero range or they know their scope very well. However as respondents have pointed out, even if you use a fixed mag, the zoom lens does give an option to adopt a different fixed mag as your shooting evolves, or for hunters as light levels and circumstances dictate.